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DARK HOUSE
by Theresa Monsour
Time Warner Books, May 2006
384 pages
17.99GBP
ISBN: 0316732079


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Sometimes it takes only one book to knock a reader's socks off and be in awe of a previously unknown author. For me, it was Theresa Monsour's DARK HOUSE. This was my first experience with Monsour and her series character Paris Murphy, a police detective from St. Paul, Minnesota. This was my first novel by this author; it will not be my last. That is a promise.

DARK HOUSE focuses on two strangers on a path of absolutely no return. 'Catch' Clancy is a small-town bartender who has abandoned all hope and has a bad case of inertia in his life. He does not believe that he is entitled to anything in life and that everything bad that has ever happened to him is well-deserved. But then he meets Serene Ransom, a soon-to-be former university English professor with a grudge.

One day she is at Catch's bar at closing time when a robbery takes place. They both work together to stop the robbery with tragic consequences and their lives become intertwined with one another. They are both involved in a conspiracy of mutually assured destruction with no way out. Each will be the other's pawn, each doing the other's bidding, causing death and destruction in their wake.

Paris knows that there is no way this could have a happy ending and it will be up to her to stop it before their final plan reaches fruition. This is probably one of the toughest cases that the detective will ever face.

What makes the work so impressive is the way the author slowly develops the characters and avoids introducing unexpected surprises that might disrupt the already smooth narrative. It might be a Paris Murphy book and a lot of things are happening in her life, but she is not who is important here. It is Catch and Serene. There is a lot of set-up involved when it comes to these two characters such as how they met, how they became lovers, and how they became to be how they are now. It helps readers understand how something came from bad to ultimate worst.

The suspense is taut as their relationship starts to self-destruct in violent ways taking out everyone who happens to be in their path. The book is never predictable and the author keeps readers guessing up until the story's resolution. It is one of the best psychological thrillers out there today where two somewhat regular characters let circumstances control them until they have no control of what is happening to them. DARK HOUSE is one of the best books I have reviewed. It will definitely be at the top of my list by year's end.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, June 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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